Brief Encounters: Conversations, Magic Moments, and Assorted Hijinks

Dick Cavett is back, sharing his reflections and reminiscences about Hollywood legends, American cultural icons, and the absurdities of everyday life. In Brief Encounters, the legendary talk show host Dick Cavett introduces us to the fascinating characters who have crossed his path, from James Gandolfini and John Lennon to Mel Brooks and Nora Ephron, enhancing our appreciation of their talent, their personalities, and their places in the pantheon.

The Comedians: Drunks, Thieves, Scoundrels and the History of American Comedy

In The Comedians, comedy historian Kliph Nesteroff brings to life a century of American comedy with real-life characters, forgotten stars, mainstream heroes and counterculture iconoclasts. Based on over 200 original interviews and extensive archival research, Nesteroff's groundbreaking work is a narrative exploration of the way comedians have reflected, shaped, and changed American culture over the past 100 years.

Letterman: The Last Giant of Late Night

In a career spanning more than 30 years, David Letterman redefined the modern talk show with an ironic comic style that transcended traditional television. While he remains one of the most famous stars in America, he is a remote, even reclusive figure whose career is widely misunderstood. In Letterman, Jason Zinoman, the first comedy critic in the history of the New York Times, mixes groundbreaking reporting with unprecedented access and probing critical analysis to explain the unique entertainer's titanic legacy.

Raised Eyebrows, Expanded Edition: My Years Inside Groucho’s House

Raised Eyebrows is the bittersweet story of the last years in the life of Groucho Marx, told by a young Marx Brothers fan who was fortunate enough to work for Groucho as his personal secretary and archivist, right inside Marx's Beverly Hills home. In addition to getting to know his hero, the author was able to spend quality time with Zeppo, Gummo, Mae West, George Burns, Bob Hope, Jack Lemmon, SJ Perelman, Steve Allen, and scores of other luminaries of stage, screen, TV, and literature.

Lucy and Desi: The Legendary Love Story of Television's Most Famous Couple

After eight years on the air, Desi Arnaz did not love Lucy any more. On screen, they were dynamite, a comedy pairing more successful than any Hollywood had ever produced. But when the cameras stopped rolling, they fought, screamed and threatened each other more each season. Finally, an argument in Desi's production office turned violent. Lucy hurled a cocktail glass past his head, and Desi demanded a divorce. He moved out that night. After nearly 20 years, America's favorite couple was finished.

Cheech Is Not My Real Name: ...But Don't Call Me Chong

Cheech Marin came of age at an interesting time in America and became a self-made counterculture legend with his other half, Tommy Chong. This insightful memoir delves into how Cheech dodged the draft, formed one of the most successful comedy duos of all time, became the face of the recreational drug movement with the film Up in Smoke, forged a successful solo career, and became the owner of the most renowned collection of Chicano art in the world.

My Happy Days in Hollywood: A Memoir

Once called a legend in his own time slot, Garry Marshall has been among the most successful writers, directors, and producers in America for more than five decades. In My Happy Days in Hollywood, Marshall takes us on a journey from his stickball-playing days in the Bronx to his time at the helm of some of the most popular television series and movies of all time, sharing the joys and challenges of working with the Fonz and the young Julia Roberts, the “street performer” Robin Williams, and the young Anne Hathaway, among many others.

Are You Anybody?: A Memoir

It's rare that an actor embodies even one memorable character over the arc of a career. Jeffrey Tambor has managed to create three, beginning with Hank "Hey Now!" Kingsley on The Larry Sanders Show, the series created by Garry Shandling, Jeffrey's first mentor in television. He went on to find two more show creators, Mitch Hurwitz of Arrested Development and Jill Soloway of Transparent, who shared a love of actors and taught him a lot about acting along the way.

In Such Good Company: Eleven Years of Laughter, Mayhem, and Fun in the Sandbox

Who but Carol Burnett herself has the timing, talent, and wit to pull back the curtain on the Emmy Award-winning show that made television history for 11 glorious seasons? In Such Good Company delves into little-known stories of the guests, sketches, and antics that made the show legendary as well as some favorite tales too good not to relive again. Carol lays it all out for us, from the show's original conception to its evolution into one of the most beloved primetime programs of its generation.

Al Franken, Giant of the Senate

Al Franken, Giant of the Senate is a book about an unlikely campaign that had an even more improbable ending: the closest outcome in history and an unprecedented eight-month recount saga, which is pretty funny in retrospect. It's a book about what happens when the nation's foremost progressive satirist gets a chance to serve in the United States Senate and, defying the low expectations of the pundit class, actually turns out to be good at it.

I Loved Her in the Movies: Memories of Hollywood's Legendary Actresses

In a career that has spanned more than 60 years, Robert Wagner has witnessed the twilight of the Golden Age of Hollywood and the rise of television, becoming a beloved star in both media. During that time he became acquainted, both professionally and socially, with the remarkable women who were the greatest screen personalities of their day. I Loved Her in the Movies is his intimate and revealing account of the charisma of these women on film, why they became stars, and more.

Thank You for Coming to Hattiesburg: One Comedian's Tour of Not-Quite-the-Biggest Cities in the World

Hello. It's Todd Barry. Yes, the massively famous comedian. I have billons of fans all over the world, so I do my fair share of touring. While I love doing shows in the big cities (New York, Chicago, Cleveland), I also enjoy a good secondary market (Rochester, Springfield, Toledo). There's something great about performing in a place where they don't expect to see you.

Waiter to the Rich and Shameless: Confessions of a Five Star Beverly Hills Server

Waiter to the Rich and Shameless is not just a peek into the secretive inner workings of a legendary five-star restaurant; it is not just a celebrity tell-all or a scathing corporate analysis. It is a top-tier waiter's personal coming-of-age story, an intimate look into the complicated challenges of serving in the country's most elite, Hollywood-centric dining room while fighting to maintain a sense of self and purpose.

Bette & Joan: The Divine Feud

This joint biography of Bette Davis and Joan Crawford follows Hollywood's most epic rivalry throughout their careers. They only worked together once, in the classic spine-chiller What Ever Happened to Baby Jane, and their violent hatred of each other as rival sisters was no act. In real life they fought over as many men as they did film roles.

But Enough About Me: A Memoir

Burt Reynolds has been a Hollywood leading man for six decades, known for his legendary performances, sex-symbol status, and storied Hollywood romances. In his long career of stardom, during which he was number one at the box office for five years in a row, Reynolds has seen it all. But Enough About Me will tell his story through the people he's encountered on his amazing journey.

I Remember Me

For over half a century, millions have appreciated Carl Reiner's work as comedian, actor, director, TV writer and author. Winner of numerous accolades, including 12 Emmy wins and one Grammy award, Carl Reiner once again brandishes his literary talents to tell the story of his life in I Remember Me. Reiner reminisces on 90 years of love and laughter, highs and lows, mistakes and triumphs. Told with a warm heart and an occasional touch of nostalgia, Reiner draws from decades of family, friends and fun to illuminate his life and career as one of America's most loved and memorable figures.

Last Girl Before Freeway: The Life, Loves, Losses, and Liberation of Joan Rivers

Joan Rivers was more than a legendary comedian; she was an icon and a role model to millions, a fearless pioneer who left a legacy of expanded opportunity when she died in 2014. Her life was a dramatic roller coaster of triumphant highs and devastating lows: the suicide of her husband, her feud with Johnny Carson, her estrangement from her daughter, her many plastic surgeries, her ferocious ambition, and her massive insecurities.

Dean and Me: A Love Story

In a memoir by turns moving, tragic, and hilarious, Jerry Lewis recounts with crystal clarity every step of a 50-year friendship, from the springtime, 1945 afternoon when the two vibrant young performers destined to conquer the world together met on Broadway and 54th Street, to their tragic final encounter in the 1990s, when Lewis and his wife ran into Dean Martin, a broken and haunted old man.

The Elephant to Hollywood

Charming, engaging, and surprisingly forthright, Michael Caine gives us his insider's view of Hollywood and the story of his brilliant second act. When he was in his late 50s, Michael Caine believed his Hollywood career had come to an end. The scripts being sent his way were worse and worse. Salvation came in the unlikely form of his old friend Jack Nicholson, who convinced him to give acting one more shot. What followed was one of the most radical comebacks in film history.

Tippi: A Memoir

For decades Tippi Hedren's luminous beauty radiated from the silver screen, enchanting moviegoers and cementing her position among Hollywood's elite - beauty and star power that continue to endure. For too long Hedren's story has been told by others through whispered gossip and tabloid headlines. Now Hedren sets the record straight, recalling how a young and virtuous Lutheran girl from small-town Minnesota became a worldwide legend.

Andy and Don: The Making of a Friendship and a Classic American TV Show

Andy Griffith and Don Knotts met on Broadway in the 1950s. When Andy went to Hollywood to film a TV pilot about a small-town sheriff, Don called to ask if the sheriff could use a deputy. The comedic synergy between Sheriff Andy Taylor and Deputy Barney Fife ignited The Andy Griffith Show, elevating a folksy sitcom into a timeless study of human friendship, as potent off the screen as on.

Sinatra: The Chairman

Just in time for the Chairman's centennial, the endlessly absorbing sequel to James Kaplan's best-selling Frank: The Voice - finally the definitive biography that Frank Sinatra, justly termed "The Entertainer of the Century", deserves and requires. Like Peter Guralnick on Elvis, Kaplan goes behind the legend to give us the man in full, in his many guises and aspects: peerless singer, (sometimes) powerful actor, business mogul, tireless lover, and associate of the powerful and infamous.

TV (the Book): Two Experts Pick the Greatest American Shows of All Time

What's the greatest TV show ever? That debate reaches an epic conclusion in TV (the Book). Sepinwall and Seitz have identified and ranked the 100 greatest scripted shows in American TV history. Using a complex, obsessively all-encompassing scoring system, they've created a pantheon of top TV shows, each accompanied by essays delving into what made these shows great.

Audible Editor Reviews

Dick Cavett's new collection of essays, drawn from his recent weekly column in The New York Times, does exactly what you expect, exactly as well as you expect it to. After 50 years in the talk show business, he has many great stories to tell and a sizable but casual wit with which to tell them. As a selection of his columns, this book collects not only the many historic moments in television that Cavett had a hand in, but also an array of amusing anecdotes from his childhood, and also his general opinions on contemporary politics and pop culture.

The essays are not arranged chronologically, and the ever nimble Cavett jumps from scene to scene with the ease of both the person who has been there, and the person who is accustomed to discussing it. Cavett reveals hilarious bits of his childhood, from an obsession with illegal firecrackers to the military precision with which he studied to become a magician. He weighs in on recent news headlines as a staunch liberal, including his thoughts about Sarah Palin, among other political figures. Of course, his behind-the-scenes look at writing material for Groucho Marx and Johnny Carson is fascinating, and his tales of celebrity horror are hilariously personal without getting too gossipy.

To have Cavett himself narrating the book is immediately and unmistakably a real treat. This experience feels like having Sunday dinner with your grandfather, except your grandfather is a deeply literate and highly animated character with a vast stockpile of friends in high places. Of particular delight are his terrifyingly good impersonations of Katharine Hepburn and John Wayne. Cavett tells of listening to Nixon strategize about how best to ruin him, the time a fitness expert died on stage in the middle of a taping, and his effort to contain an extended feud between Gore Vidal and Norman Mailer that famously boiled over during a live show. Spanning five decades and essentially covering highlights of the entire history of commercial television programming, there isn't a tedious moment in the whole book and you'll definitely want to pass these stories along. Megan Volpert

Publisher's Summary

For years, Dick Cavett played host to the nation’s most famous personalities on his late-night talk show. In this humorous and evocative book, we get to hear Cavett's best tales, as he recounts great moments with the legendary entertainers who crossed his path and offers his own trenchant commentary on contemporary American culture and politics.

Pull up a chair and listen to Cavett's stories about one-upping Bette Davis, testifying on behalf of John Lennon, confronting Richard Nixon, scheming with John Updike, befriending William F. Buckley, and palling around with Groucho Marx. Sprinkled in are tales of his childhood in Nebraska in the 1940s and 1950s, where he honed his sense of comic timing and his love of magic.

Cavett is also a wry cultural observer, looking at America today and pointing out the foibles that we so often fail to notice about ourselves. And don't even get him started on politicians.

A generation of Americans ended their evenings in Dick Cavett's company. Talk Show is a way to welcome him back.

As a long time fan of Dick Cavett, his memoir "Talk Show" took me down memory lane of some of my literary heroes, television greats, political silly people and the golden era of live television. Mr. Cavett's intelligent insights and observations of those familiar faces and public figures enlighten his readers/listeners with his humor and his understanding.
I especially enjoyed his analysis of the Imus firing situation, perhaps because I agree with it. I wonder if Mr. Cavett's respect of the I-man remains after his "defection" to Fox Speak...more's the pity.

I rarely watched Cavett's show (he always seemed TOO full of himself), and yet I've seen brief clips of many of the shows I missed and have thoroughly enjoyed them. Maybe that's the answer...Cavett in small doses is manageable. At least I found MOST of these columns to be either interesting, humorous (the ones about Richard Nixon, George Bush) or downright poignant (the one about Paul Newman brought tears). I DID NOT enjoy learning he was not only friends with - but GOOD FRIENDS with - the irksome William F. Buckley. And Cavett seems to get far too much enjoyment remembering tales of his childhood/teen vandalism, minor though it may have been.

Would you consider the audio edition of Talk Show to be better than the print version?

Yes. I have a preference for books read by the author.

What other book might you compare Talk Show to and why?

Since this is one of the very few memoirs I've read, it's hard to compare, although I did listen to Michael Caines most recent and Cavett's compared more than favorably.

What does Dick Cavett bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Obviously, his voice (tone, modulation, inflection, etc.)

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The John Wayne segments. A pair that is hard to imagine

Any additional comments?

I bought the audio thinking it would be a straight forward memoir. At first I was disappointed at it being a reading of his blogs. However, after I got into the pattern, I was very pleased. As to Mr Cavett himself, I found him to be more agreeable and empathic than I thought. That said is absolute intolerance of folks addicted to food and alcohol was a bit disconcerting.

I used to watch Dick's talk show & liked it since he didn't just stick to film stars, but brilliant people like Bill Buckley. This is a real find-the fact that Cavett narrates the book & very well too, enhances the experience. As other reviewers have said, it is like he is in the room with you. I was enthralled through all of it. I would almost bet a fiver that you will not be bored. Bravo!

What made the experience of listening to Talk Show the most enjoyable?

By far the best part of this adventure was hearing it told in Mr. Cavett's own voice, infused with his characteristic wit and intelligence. This reminded me of both how much of an influence he was on my life over the years, and how much I miss that now.<br/>The book is a treasure-trove of backstage glimpses, wry observations on life, political commentary, and some very memorable jokes.<br/>And, thank you Dick Cavett, for coming to the rescue of the English language!!

Any additional comments?

As soon as the audiotape ended, I raced over to my computer to see if his autobiography had been recorded by him here. Disappointed to not find it! What do you say, Audible?

This book was exceptionally well written and performed-Mr. Cavette has had a fascinating career and shared so much of it in this book. I always thought he was intelligent but I have learned he is brilliant with a wonderful and wry sense of humor. I felt he gave me a gift with this book.

How I miss Dick Cavett. Wonderful stories of course but it is his constant insight of people, places and history so well laced with humor and perspective that I miss most of all. Wish we had him back on TV then it would be the one thing that I would watch...now it is a wasteland.

I just love this audiobook. I always enjoyed Dick Cavett.....it's refreshing to listen to someone so intelligent and articulate. I've missed his TV show and was thrilled when I learned of this book. He kept me company on a long car trip. It felt like he was in the passenger seat telling me stories. Since I've returned home, I've played several for my husband and some friends, and I enjoy them the second time through just as much as the first. He's brilliant!

I’ve was never a fan of Dick Cavett. I tried and tried to watch his talk show. He got terrific guests. But all that unrestrained wit and unbearable, never ending cleverness was too distracting for words. I couldn’t figure out who he was trying to impress – the celebrities, his audience, the crew, himself? Maybe if he had an English accent it would have been easier to take. But Dick Cavett the writer is another matter. He’s got great stories to tell and he tells them with the same wit and style I found so tedious on television. A few of the anecdotes are dated and boring but that’s what the fast forward button is for. Most of his tales are truly wonderful and he reads them in a warm, relaxed conversational manner. Its almost as if he were sitting next to me in the car. He’s a lot more likable that way.

What does Dick Cavett bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

His delivery as a speaker/writer

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Sure if time would permit but I didn't. Four sittings.

Any additional comments?

I thought the book was a true insight as to the esoteric private stories behind the celebrity peeps. It's so witty that I couldn't wait to pick up from where I started from after taking a break. It's a lot better than "People Magazine" and doesn't mimic "The Inquirer" but more of an intellectual entertainment learning experience without pictures. It's certainly a generational book about people my children, who are in their forties, most probably never heard of or understood. I would give it a "Five" based on content and originality!